INESC TEC explores the Blue Economy and creates a new cutting-edge infrastructure

The initiative is called TEC4SEA; it’s a technological platform that aims to support the research, development and testing of robotics, telecommunications, and sensors equipment for operations in maritime environments. This was the latest infrastructure inaugurated by INESC TEC, on March 17, at the Port of Leixões; Elvira Fortunato, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and José Maria Costa, Secretary of State for Maritime Affairs, attended the event.

Developed within the scope of the work by INESC TEC Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CRAS), Centre for Telecommunications and Multimedia (CTM), and Centre for Applied Photonics (CAP) – and established in collaboration with the Algarve Centre of Technology Research (CINTAL) -, TEC4SEA concluded the initial phase of implementation in December 2022, and is now starting its operational stage. Besides the inauguration of the infrastructure, the event featured the presentation of two major facilities: the Support Point, located in the Port of Leixões (a laboratory and a small workshop), and the Mar Profundo research vessel, currently moored in the Leça da Palmeira Marina.

Paulo Mónica, CRAS researcher and head of TEC4SEA, explained that “the platform’s mission is to support the scientific community and the industrial national and European ecosystems, concerning the development of technology for monitoring and operations in maritime environments – thus supporting the sustainable development of the Blue Economy, regarding living and non-living resources”.

According to the researcher, the Support Point “will allow greater fluidity and effectiveness in the development, testing and validation activities of marine technologies and equipment, since it creates the conditions that research teams need to work close to the shore, with significant efficiency gains”. As to the Mar Profundo research vessel, “it advances the TEC4SEA capability to autonomously access the sea, implementing the systems and equipment developed in the locations and operating conditions for which they were designed – a vital aspect for an infrastructure like TEC4SEA, according to its mission and goals”, stated Paulo Mónica.

The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with INESC TEC.